Friday, September 28, 2007

Ever seen a couple of burly blokes get mushy over a cuddly koala? Well last night 2 unsung heroes from Powercor came to the rescue of a badly injured Koala.

In what unfolded to be a dramatic 3 hour rescue, the team at BADGAR wildlife rescue were called to assist an injured koala, hit by a car just off Brewery Tap Road in Ballarat. The Koala had serious injuries to its legs and was bleeding badly. The animal was reported to the 1300 BADGAR number by a worried driver who hit the animal just after 4 pm last night. Shortly after the BADGAR team arrived on site, to be rendered almost useless because the koala in fear, had scaled a 30m high dead pine tree, where is sat bleeding.

No rescue equipment could help the animal as it was too high in the tree and weather conditions were too harsh for climbers. After a desperate ring around, it was Powercor who came to the rescue with an enormous truck that had a bucket crane attached. Tiffany Ampt, a BADGAR rescuer was given the hair-raising job of riding in the bucket with the Powercor team, as it extended 25m into the air to reach the koala. After about 6 minutes of careful positioning, Tiffany managed to reach the koala just in time, using her training skills to grab the koala in a position where neither her nor the animal would get hurt.

Powercor did not charge a single cent for the hour long service and the team had just finished a day’s work when they got the call. Without them the rescue would not have been possible and the koala’s fate would not have been as positive.

The animal was taken straight to a local vet who performed minor surgery on the leg and treated other injuries. It was then taken to Beremboke Wildlife Shelter near BrisbaneRanges where it will undergo vital rehabilitation before being released back to the wild in the same area it came from.

“Without them [Powercor], this operation would not have been possible. It’s a big ask for a company to dispatch a large piece of machinery at no cost, so we’re really grateful” explains Walt Collins, Badgar co-founder.

“It was extremely scary being 25m in the air facing an angry koala, but you forget the fact you’re dangling on a crane and just get on with the job, it was a brilliant rescue’ adds Tiffany.

Thanks again to the man who reported it and a big thanks to Powercor for once again doing their bit for the community, the whole team at BADGAR are very grateful.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Hey everyone, thought we would write about a horrible rescue we had yesterday. It started 24 hours prior to that with about 6 calls coming in from all over about a wallaby in central Ballarat CBD area. It was Walt and Tiff on the go this time round. Off we went but the animal was nowhere to be seen. We searched for about an hour but it had gone, so we put the call out on the radio for people in that area to check back yards / car parks. ABC 774 picked up the story and did an interview in which we told people to have a look... this was the quickest way for us to find it. Nothing came through, so we kissed it goodbye. Anyway, the next day we get a call from an industrial park who heard the story on ABC radio the day before and called the wallaby in. It was in the same area. So off Tiff and I went, and attached to us where the film crew doing the pilot for the Discovery show.It certainly needed moving on as it was along rail lines, in a busy manufacturing plant with large trucks and no way out other than onto a main street.A text book rescue, cornered along a fence line right angle. So we enlisted the help of a bystander, got the net and Walt chased it along the fence into the net. The animal was sedated and captured. However during the process of capture, Walt noticed that it's eyes looked cloudy.. not too drastic, but they certainly weren't normal. It was decided that as a safety measure we'd take it to the vets. It appeared that the wallaby had little or no sight... As if by magic, Monika and Luke were also arriving at the vets with a flying fox.... and Monnie spotted the tell tail stench, it appeared to have mange (not sure if that's spelled correctly).2 hours of deliberation later, it was confirmed that the animal had no sight at all and that mange was rife.She was an old wallaby with pinky that sadly wasn't viable. Tell tail ears fused down, large bulging black eyes that were closed. It was decided on a group vote with 2 vets and 4 carers, that it was kindest for the animal if it was put down. The stress of the parasite, the lack of sight (even if it was temporary but it was believed to be permanent), plus bad condition warranted the euthanasia.It was a sad end to a great rescue and we all felt really flat afterwards. I guess it's a strong reminder that a good rescue doesn't always end with a release... as hard as it is to take for the rescuer.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Welcome to the 30 new BADGAR rescuers who joined Hobsons Bay & District on 22nd September. All passed their level 4 training and are now ready to go rescue! On behalf of all the team at BADGAR wildlife rescue, we welcome you to our team. Let us know about your rescues....

Monday, September 10, 2007

Setting the scene> someone calls 1300BADGAR, Walt, Shaun, Monika, Melissa and Luke are all enjoying wine at Walt's house. "there's a kangaroo stuck in our dam" We all rush out on the 20 min drive.We get there, there's a large-ish female roo tummy deep in freezing water, she's stuck in the mud. It's 8c outside.We use the mum, 2 kids, the roo net and our amphibian Shaun who like a crock, submerges himself into freezing water. Net is ready, sedation is ready, Shaun moves in to scare it out of the water... and into the net... but this roo ain't goin anywhere!It's feet are firmly stuck in the mud. Shaun picks up freezing roo, we sedate her, check her out and she's a mum with joey at foot. Great we say, it's 8.30pm, freezing Victorian night... anyway, the mum had been attacked by a dog, so whilst Shaun, Monika and Walt were checking out the go on the mum, Melissa and Luke by chance, did an area search for a little joey.10 minutes had passed, no sign of the two anywhere.... We're ready to call it a night, mum needed to be put down and we were getting itchy feet. As if like a scene from a movie, against a bright light, the two walk towards the scene. Walt shouts 'where have you been.. we've gotta go..." then proudly Melissa hands a tiny joey over....

The chances of finding babies once dropped are slim, especially slim are the chances at night, in the bush. Turns out another female roo was minding the bub nearby. She had a large joey in pouch, but stood over the little one until it tried to run.The little one is now called Mallaluka and is doing really well!!!It goes to say that the lady and two 8 year old lads who's property it was, thought we were complete gods!!!!

Mum was no good, blind in one eye, calcified old foot wound and bad maul marks everywhere...

G'day, on behalf of all the BADGAR team, welcome to the blog!The blog was launched 10th September 2007. If you've seen our TV ads, heard our radio ads, read our media, or if you're a rescuer.... or wannabe rescuer... then get blogging!

Did you like our ads, what area are you from in Australia, have you ever had to call a rescue team?

Let us know!

Happy Blogging. Walt, Donna and the entire team at BADGAR.PS... if you've stumbled across us, visit www.badgar.org.au to find out more